Hi Colin,My dad was in the Air Force. He was an instructor on 24s and 29s in Pensacola. His squadron raided Polesti. I gave a talk to the China Lake commander and his pilots back in the early 80s on our XC flight routes up the Owens MOA . He told his guys not to try HG. A few years later, one of his top test pilots killed himself in a Mitchell Wing. Once you're ten feet off the ground, I guess it doesn't matter much what you're flying...In the later 80s, my job was fuel delivery to the Tonopah base. Can't say much about that! But I felt the USAF was the biggest adventure around. Next to hang gliding. https://web.archive.org/web/20110718085120/http://www.cometclones.com/RMflightlog.htm

First, I'd like to thank you for your service to our Country!!! There are many who belong to the Hawks who picked up a hang glider decades ago and have never put it down!!! Enjoy every aspect and level of your adventures in the sport. Soaring like a bird (and with the birds) in the purest form of flight can be life changing and rewarding beyond words!!!

Colin,If you can get back to Doc again (I forgot how to spell Docwieler) for more runs down the beach do so.

Smooth air coming in over large bodies of water is absolutely among some of the best training winds to be found.

Inland wind with associated turbulence and gradient will have a starting hang gliding pilot wondering, °°what did I do wrong?°° All the while saying, “#%!&%^%$#!” And all the while, except for the turbulence, you were doing everything correctly. Learn in near perfect conditions and later add the spice.Yup, Frank is right, most of us old timers are wishing we had done more flying instead of so much participation in dreams of someone else.

I am also a huge WWII history fan! My Grandfather who really got me into the Air Force flew B-25's, 29's, C-47s, and a variety of other aircraft between WWII in the south Pacific (Tarawa) and Korea. My personal favorite is the B-17, which I make sure to find at whatever airshow I visit! I've been to China Lake before, and maybe one day if I am lucky I'll make it over to Tonopah!

I've spent most of my life playing around with flight simulators, RC aircraft at times, and model rockets. As Bob knows I am a mechanical engineer by trade, so a lot of the mechanics of flight, flight control systems, and fluid mechanics are already in my mind...now I just have to put them into practice. On a similar note I got to visit NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center last year through a work contact and flew around for a while on their F-18 flight simulator. I did a great job landing the aircraft in turbulent wind even though the air brakes weren't working on that particular simulation...but it was at 400 knots. Which I reckon is more than double its max landing speed. So I guess is depends on your definition of "landing".

Thank you all very much for the great words and advice for a newcomer like me! I hope one of these days I'll get to fly with you with a HG of my own!

I still need to get you the video from your first flights. Also, please let me know when you make plans with John because I'd like to be there to take more pictures. It's really great to watch a new pilot progress through their first high flights!!

Until then, here are some stills taken from your first day at Dockweiler:

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I just noticed in those last few photos that the footprint pattern will show two sets of feet running along together, then turning to just one set of feet, and then returning to two sets. I can't help being reminded of the famous "Footprints" poem. Maybe it was inspired by early hang gliding training sessions?

Welcome again Colin, and please feel free to chime in on existing topics or start new topics if you have any questions about your training or the sport in general. There are literally hundreds of years of flying experience behind the folks who've posted in this topic, and we're all happy to help.

Hello to the US Hawks from Jim Delear, from Sylmar ,CA. I have been a USHGA member since the 80's. I have flown at many places over the years, but now mostly Sylmar the local spot. I just discovered the US Hawks website a few days ago, looking for answers to the insurance fiasco at Dockwiler and now USHPA.